Beautiful in Spring
Model: Nika
Apr, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken near the summit of a beautiful mountain called "Kalnik" in Croatia. I saw those beautiful dandelions in the grass, and immediately the idea of that picture came to me.Time
We where to have a nice day with friends on the mountain; to climb to the top and return down again for lunch... after the lunch I wanted to scout for some locations for a photoshoot with that beautiful girl. This was taken on April 10, 2016 at 4:04 PM.Lighting
The location was outdoors and I used the natural light. I made sure that the light falling on my model didn’t create any unwanted shadows, as I wanted her face totally illuminated.Equipment
This was shoot with Canon 6D, with an 50mm f/1.8 lens. Nothing else.Inspiration
The place itself, the spring, the green of the grass and the most important element of the spring - the yellow dandelions, in this case. I wanted to take a nice portrait of that beautiful girl with that amazing nature at that time, full of flowers and colors.Editing
I used 2 photos to create this one, because I wanted to add more flowers to the original picture, then I took some flowers from other shot in the same place and added them in in Photoshop. Also some hair tufts. I increased the luminosity in Camera Raw, and I worked on the colors to make them pop out more. I finished the image cropping the picture according to the composition and the closeness that I wanted.In my camera bag
Depends on what I want to do. But normally I pack my Canon 6D with a portrait lens. Before I was using 50mm f/1.8 lens that is used on this photo, but now I prefer 85mm f/1.8. Mostly I go out with both, plus the 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, but this depends - if I'm sure I won't use it I won’t take it, of course. I have a off-camera flash, a diffusor, reflector in white, silver and golden, a diffusor for the flash. I always have some microfiber cloth to clean the lenses, a UV filter, a cleaning kit, some make up, batteries for the flash, a remote control, an ND filter and my phone. I take the tripod only if I know I’ll use it, to keep my bag as light as possible, as I’m carrying it all the time during the photo session, walking in the street, city, mountain.Feedback
Study the light of the moment, make the model comfortable and communicate about what do you want them to do. Try different compositions of your model at the location. In this picture that I took she was lying on the grass, I was checking that she was relaxed and comfortable. I moved her hair in the way I thought looked better. Because the light was coming directly at her I asked her to close her eyes and open when I told her to. It is important to take more shots so you can choose later, or even combine different elements of certain shots. As far as the luminosity and the colors are concerned – play with the Camera Raw Filter settings until you get what you want. It’s important not to overdo it, just try to get the natural feeling of a photo, especially the face/skin of the model. And two important things: TAKE YOUR TIME, don't be in a hurry. Take your time and be calm while you are shooting try to transmit whatever you want to your model; and during the post-processing or once you’re done, it’s good to check the photo again the following day, as you will probably notice some things you didn’t see the first time around, or you might decide to modify something else on the image. And the second important thing – ENJOY it all!
